White Excited To Be a Bear

New Cal grad assistant Jahvid Best and cornerback commit Darius White on official visit

After previously committing to Kansas State in December, Itawamba (Fulton, MS) City College cornerback Darius White saw his path changed as he narrowly missed NCAA requirements for early entrants. KSU's loss ended up Cal's gain as the talented soph committed to Cal today during his official visit to Berkeley.

Considered one of the top junior college defensive backs in the nation, the 6-1/185 White will immediately fill a position of need with the surprise departure of junior cornerback Kameron Jackson, who declared as an early entrant for the NFL draft this month.

White narrowly missed qualifying to be an early entrant, falling just one class short. White is taking just that single class this spring so qualifying should be a simple formality for the Mississippi native.†

White made the trip West with his sister -the first time in California for both.†

"It was amazing," said White. "Everything was real cool. It was nice. This was my first time here. It's a whole different world. The weather was real nice, too."

Beyond the Bay Area, White was especially impressed by his future home.

"Man, the facilities...they're the best I've ever seen," said White. "Campus was beautiful, too."

White made the commitment to Cal despite the absence of his future position coach but he likes the direction he sees the program heading and has confidence that the Bears will bring in the best man for the job.†

"They said the coaches should be in sometime next week and that the secondary coach from Texas will be coming and they'll give me a call when it's all taken care of," said White.†

The 3 star White had six interceptions and 54 tackles in 2013 and is coming in with the mindset that a starting position is his to lose.

"The coaches told me they'd like to see me compete to start and that's what I see myself doing, for sure," said White.

Besides Kansas State, the Bears beat out Texas Tech, Arkansas and several other programs for White's services.†